Affections
by MEEPheheCandy
Summary: Season Finale spoilers. Will confronts Hannibal about a problem with the evidence which somehow everyone else had seemed to miss. Further description inside.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Hannibal or any affiliated characters….sadly. Spoilers for season finale, don't want, don't read. Thou hast been warned. Also pretending that "Desperacy" is actually a word in the English Dictionary because I'm in denial.**

**So basically this started with a conversation (rant) I was having with a friend the other night about Hannibal. Something just really bothered me about Hannibal's theatrics with the ear thing and Jack/the whole FBI's reaction to it. (Maybe you agree/disagree? I would love to hear your take on it.) So somehow the rant morphed into a fic and here we go. Based off the scene in Hannibal's office.**

**Enjoy!**

Hannibal kept his eyes on the book in front of him, allowing the other occupant of the room to converse at his leisure. After all that the agent had gone through in the past few hours- well, months really- he supposed that he owed Will at least a little patience in order to allow him to collect the thoughts fluttering across his brain. Hannibal's lips twitched slightly at the thought, taking on a shape reminiscent of a smile. Here the ripper sat, the only one with a net to catch those evasive, butterfly winged thoughts. The irony was not lost on him, but a portion of appreciation for it was, tainted by the sight of his only friend reeking of denial and hollow loss. Still, it was a victory worth its weight in suffering. At the end, Will would appreciate this; understand that sometimes pain is necessary.

"I didn't kill her-them…I know it wasn't me."

Hannibal let the book collapse shut, setting it aside.

"What makes you so sure? You have been losing time, Will, and all of the evidence almost undoubtedly points to how those missing hours and minutes were spent."

Will merely continued to shake his head, as if the motion would ward off all the problems which were filling it to the brim. There was so much he didn't understand anymore, about the cases, people, evidence…himself, but this? Something just didn't set right in his stomach. He could always interpret the evidence, see it play out, but now he couldn't see anything. He vaguely wondered if this was how normal people felt all the time, so…blind?

"It couldn't have been."

"I understand that you do not want to accept that you may have murdered Abigail Hobbs, but you need to look at the evidence."

Will's head shot up, meeting Dr. Lecter's stare, tensed against his chair like an animal bristling before an attack, sizing up its predator. His entire being was shaking even more noticeably now, causing Hannibal to suppress a smile further. His little mongoose was starting to loose himself in the snake's pattern.

"I _am_ looking at the evidence, and that's precisely why I know I wasn't me! I-whoever did this almost fooled me. Obviously he fooled everyone else. How could they not see…?" Will inhaled sharply, trying to regain some semblance of composure, "…I could believe that I- that I killed Abigail, that I got my head wrapped around Garret Jacob Hobb's mentality so tightly that I couldn't scrape the part of him that followed me after I shot him out of my skull. And I would have accepted it so easily, but our copycat finally made a mistake. And now I get it."

The doctor leaned forward slightly, demonstrating his attentiveness.

"And what do these theatrics reveal to you?"

Shuttering breaths spilled across the space of the room, betraying its owner's desperacy. Will was still shaking violently, so much so that Hannibal felt tempted to reach over and grasp his shoulders to hold him still. The harsh breathing mingled with syllables into words.

"It didn't make since. The last time I saw her was at the cabin, after which she was murdered at her house. If I had killed her the way Hobbs had killed those other girls then I would have honored every part of her there. Forget bringing pieces with me; Hobbs wasn't the doggy bag "food to go" type-too disrespectful- and I wouldn't have tried to take it through airport security anyway. So tell me why after a plane ride and all the time from my arrival home to the point in time when I woke up and called you, the ear I coughed up was not in the least bit chewed up and more than that, with no traces of digestion!"

Hannibal met his gaze evenly as Will's tirade softened into an exhausted murmur.

"Almost as if someone shoved it down my throat when I was sleeping…" He brushed his fingertips over the elaborate pattern cast over the arm of the chair, systematically tracing each dip and plunge in the fabric's threading. A knowing look spread across his features, like he was finally realizing that the last piece if the puzzle didn't fit because someone had switched it out with a piece from a completely different box.

"You made to my house pretty fast, Doctor Lecter, considering you took the time to make sure your attire was as immaculate as usual at such an indecent hour, or was it that you had never bothered to get ready for bed, knowing that you would just have to dress and leave soon anyway?" His voice was barely a breath of a whisper by now, "All this time I thought that you just didn't project your feelings loudly like so many do, but really it was just that I couldn't empathize with something that wasn't there."

"You say that I do not feel. This is untrue."

"No, I never said that you don't have emotions. They are simply…more demure, reserved rather than absent. You have affections, but what could Abigail have done that outweighed your fondness for her?"

"What makes you so sure it was me?"

"You once told me what you thought of me as, the mongoose watching the snakes slither by. All this time I couldn't see what you were, couldn't see what the evidence meant like all the other murders because you are not just a common garden snake like the others Dr. Lecter. You are the king cobra who spat venom in my eyes to blind me from what you are. But I can see now. I can see everything."

"Clearly not everything. Abigail's actions did not outweigh the affections I held for her."

"What did outweigh them then?"

Hannibal swirled the burgundy liquid in his glass, keeping his eyes locked on Will's as he brought the wine to his nose, relishing the scent before allowing the cold glass to brush against his lips.

"Other affections."


End file.
